


pan-daemon-ium

by amusewithaview



Series: Said the Hatter with a sigh, "It's always Tumblr time." [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemons, Embedded Images, F/M, His Dark Materials Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:52:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6483019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusewithaview/pseuds/amusewithaview
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy used her peripherals to watch as Arcadia slowly meandered her way around the lab.  It only <i>seemed</i> like aimless wandering, but it’s been a little over a week of this and Darcy could recognize the pattern.  The hair at the back of her neck raised as Arcadia flicked an ear in her direction.</p><p>“What is she <i>doing?</i>” Sephriel hissed into her ear.</p><p>“At a guess? <i>Hunting.</i>”</p>
            </blockquote>





	pan-daemon-ium

**Author's Note:**

> Imported from tumblr, but not a prompt fic and rather longish, so it gets to go on its own.
> 
> Originally written Sept. 27th, 2015.

Darcy used her peripherals to watch as Arcadia slowly meandered her way around the lab.  It only  _seemed_  like aimless wandering, but it’s been a little over a week of this and Darcy could recognize the pattern.  The hair at the back of her neck raised as Arcadia flicked an ear in her direction.

“What is she  _doing?_ ” Sephriel hissed into her ear.

“At a guess?  _Hunting_.”

Seph huddled closer to the back of her neck, muttering curses to himself (and, indirectly, to her) as he twisted some of her hair into a tiny braid, a nervous habit he had developed when her life began to feature aliens and superheroes on a regular basis.  His forepaws were extremely dextrous, though Darcy had no real knowledge of the braiding capabilities of  _actual_  pygmy marmosets.

“Quit that,” she said.  “It takes forever to unwind.”

“What’s she doing _now?_ ” he demanded.  “I can’t see!”

Arcadia had sidled up closer to her desk, ostensibly watching Rogers and Tony as they discuss some of the modifications to Barnes’s arm, but something in the set of her shoulders, in the way she was so deliberately pointed  _away_  from Darcy and Sephriel, made Darcy certain that the wolf daemon was 100% focused on them.  She weighed her options, weighed propriety against pragmatism, and sighs deeply.

“No, wait -  _don’t_  - ” Seph began.

“Can I help you?” Darcy asked doggedly.

Seph groaned.

Arcadia turned immediately, golden eyes sharply focused.  “Pardon?”

“You’re lurking,” Darcy said bluntly.  “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Am I bothering you?” Arcadia asked, head down a little and ears pricked forward as she moved closer.  Her posture was all intent focus and did little to ease the voice in Darcy’s hindbrain that was insisting  _this is a predator and it wants to eat you_.

“Do you always answer a question with a question?”

The wolf daemon paused, and something about the curl of her lip over those oh-so-sharp and white teeth suggested a smile.  “Only when I’m curious.”

“Did all the media training Rogers get transfered to you?  ‘Cause that was a perfect media answer and it told me nothing,” Darcy said, then froze as she realized that her voice was the only sound in the lab.  Rogers and Tony had ceased speaking and she had no idea when.  She could feel a faint prickle on the back of her neck where Seph was digging his sharp nails into her skin.  “So,” she said brightly, “I’ll ask again, is there something I can help you with?”

She took a few measured steps closer and Darcy tried not to flinch.  “Actually…”

“Arcadia,” Rogers called, voice cracking through the room like a whip, and this time Darcy  _did_ flinch.  She watched with wide eyes as he stalked towards them, looking like the very picture of masculine authority.  The beard he’d been wearing since bringing Barnes in from the cold in no way detracted from that image.  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Just making conversation, Stevie,” the wolf said, never once taking her eyes off of Darcy.  “You know,” she continued casually, “what do you think of the weather?  How’s your week been?  Where’s your daemon?”

Darcy sucked in a breath, eyes going wide because  _damn_.  Sephriel made a shocked gasp of his own and it did not escape Darcy’s attention when Arcadia’s ears immediately twitched at the the sound of it.  Seriously though, it was one thing to address someone else’s daemon (and she at least had the excuse of having been provoked), and quite  _another_  to outright  _ask_  someone about their daemon!

“ _Arcadia!_ ” Rogers snapped, this time actually sounding upset.  The daemon flicked her ears back and sat abruptly, everything about her body language screaming petulance and not an ounce of apology.  “I’m sorry,” Rogers said, turning to Darcy and meeting her eyes.  “That was completely out of line.”

 _You don’t_ look _sorry_ , Darcy thought, and she wasn’t really sure what to do with that.  But that was the truth: he didn’t look apologetic in the least.  He looked annoyed, and he looked alert, but damn if he didn’t look every bit as focused and - and  _intent_  as Arcadia had earlier.

“Yeah, kind of,” Darcy said in delayed response, voice cracking a little over the words.  She honestly wasn’t sure which was more intimidating: Arcadia’s golden-eyed stare or Steve’s blue.  “You guys always this forward?” she asked, mostly joking.

“Not always, no,” he said seriously.

Darcy blinked rapidly because that?  Implied?  A lot of things?

Sephriel summed her thoughts up nicely: “ _Are they flirting with us?_ ” he demanded in a harsh whisper.

“If you have to ask…” Arcadia drawled, ears pricked forward because she was  _listening_  to them.

“You - I - ” Darcy sputtered, then froze as she felt Sephriel  _move_.  He climbed out from under her hair and down her arm, scampering across her desk to the edge and coming almost nose-to-nose with Arcadia, who was staring at him in complete fascination.

“ _You_ ,” he said distinctly, and she couldn’t actually see since he was facing away, but she was certain that he was pointing an admonitory digit in the wolf’s face, “are a  _very rude daemon_.”

Arcadia  _grinned_ , tongue lolling out the side of her mouth for a second.  “Well at least you’re talking to me now.  It’s nice to finally meet you,  _Seph_.”

He turned back towards Darcy with a huff, as if to say, ‘Can you believe this?’

Darcy, however, was still staring at him in shock.  They had faced all sorts of provocations in all sorts of situations and never, never had Sephriel reacted so quickly or so  _vehemently_  when prodded to reveal himself.  He hadn’t introduced himself to Jane and Gigyllix for nearly two months!

“Seph?” Rogers said slowly, almost like he was tasting the name.

She shivered reflexively and, if the way Seph’s fur quivered was any indication, he’d done the same.  There was something about Rogers’  _voice_  that just -

“It’s Sephriel, actually,” she found herself saying.

“ _Sephriel_ ,” Arcadia echoed, and the marmoset daemon made a ‘meeping’ noise and hightailed it back to Darcy.  He halted by her elbow, one paw braced on her sleeve while they both stared, wide-eyed, at the soldier and his wolf daemon.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Rogers said formally.

“We’ll see you again soon,” Arcadia said.

Then, as one, they headed for the door.

Darcy and Sephriel stared after them until they’d disappeared out of sight.

“Damn, kid,” Tony said from behind them, making Darcy jump and spin in her chair.  He had been watching the door just as they had, but he turned back to her with a smirk and a quirked eyebrow.  “That definitely looked like a man with a plan.”

His daemon fluttered down to land on Darcy’s desk, black wings flirting dangerously with a stack of Jane’s notes.  “To get in your pants,” Lys finished, then laughed raucously.

“You’re an ass,” Seph said, and shoved the raven off the desk.

**Author's Note:**

> TONY'S DAEMON IS NAMED LYSISTRATA  
> I BASICALLY WONDERED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU TOOK CONFIDENT!BEARDY!STEVE AND PLOPPED HIM INTO A DAEMON UNIVERSE  
> DARCY IS OUTGOING BUT SHE IS ALSO A VERY PRIVATE PERSON  
> STEVE AND ARCADIA KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE  
> THEY LIKE DARCY  
> AND THEY WANT TO GET TO KNOW SEPH


End file.
